One Down, One To Go
by Seth Bramwell
Summary: Faye returns to the Bebop after a big loss at the casino to find some special visitors waiting for her...


One Down, One To Go  
  
By Allan North  
  
The dealer looked at the woman at his blackjack table intently. She had been   
playing for hours, having come into the casino with a card holding a credit of 50,000   
woolongs, and since then her total had unceremoniously dwindled to two grand. Now   
the woman was getting bold. She had staked all of it on this hand, and it seemed that she   
might prevail. A five of hearts and a five of spades lay on the table in front of her.  
  
"Hit." Faye Valentine said simply. The dealers fingers soundlessly drew a   
another card from the shoe and a king of diamonds slid over to Faye. Her eyes lit up as   
she looked at the card. Twenty. "Stand." She said, smiling coyly at the dealer. The   
dealer picked up the card he was showing, a jack of spades. With the tip of the card, he   
flipped over the hidden card, revealing an ace of spades.  
  
"Blackjack." The dealer said as Faye's face fell and her chips were scooped   
away. "Another hand, ma'am?" the dealer asked.  
  
"Humph." Faye said as she stood up from her stool, stretched, and turned away.   
The dealer shrugged. Faye walked out of the casino and walked to her zip craft. She   
opened the hatch and climbed into the mono pod, where she sadly shoved the key into   
place sand started the engines. "I've really gotta stop playing blackjack here. The cards   
are just no good on Europa." She sighed.  
  
Ten minutes later, the Bebop came into sight as the Redtail flew in and landed on   
the ship's front deck. Out of the corner of her eye, Faye noticed another ship docked   
next the Bebop, but she paid it no mind. Faye walked to the hatch, entered the access   
code and walked into the ship. She didn't get five feet inside when Ed suddenly fell from   
the ceiling, entangled in wires and cables and looking as insane as usual. Ed dangled   
there upside down in front of Faye as Faye jumped back in surprise. "Oh, it's Faye-  
Faye! Hi, Faye-Faye!" Ed chirped excitedly.  
  
"Hello, Ed." Faye said dully as she looked at the cables that were falling from a   
hole in the ceiling, holding Ed unsteadily in place. "What are you doing, anyway?"  
  
"Ed is searching Bebop-Bebop for Ein. Ein is running around somewhere and Ed   
doesn't know where!" the thirteen year old said with a goofy smile as her goggles fell to   
the floor. Suddenly, Ein walked by, regarding the two females with a bark.   
  
"Ah! Ed has found Ein!" Ed laughed crazily as she bounced up and down in the   
cables.  
  
Faye shook her head with a sigh. "Whatever. Did anything interesting happen   
while I was gone?" Faye asked.  
  
Ed placed a finger on her chin. "Hmmmm…… Happenings, shmappenings,   
super silly dappenings!" Ed sang as she thought. "Oh! Ed knows! We have a visitor?   
Yes, yes, visitors on board the Bebop-Bebop!"  
  
"A visitor? Who?" Faye asked uneasily.  
  
"Ed's not sure. Ed has never seen these people before. But Ed knows Spike-  
Spike and Jetty-Jet were happy to see them!"   
  
Faye scowled. "So, holding out bounties on me, huh, boys?" she growled as   
she swing Ed out the way and marched the communal deck of the ship. Ed swung back   
and forth in the cables with her finger still on her chin. "Hmmm. Down, down, gotta   
get down, how do I get down town?" she sang to herself. Suddenly, she figured it out   
with a gasp. "Ein! Ein! Eiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!" she called.   
"Ed needs assistance! Technical support! Heeeeeeeeeellllllllllllllllllp!"  
  
Faye swung the door to the room open and found Spike and Jet sitting on the   
couch across from two other men in suits. All eyes turned to her as she stomped down   
the stairs. "All right, guys, what's going on?" she demanded as she walked toward   
Spike and Jet deliberately, ignoring the two men in suits who stood up suddenly.   
"Ms. Valentine?" one asked suddenly when Faye had stepped between them and her   
partners.   
  
Faye turned to face them. "Yes?" she asked apprehensively.  
  
The first man smiled and shook her hand. "Good to meet you. Your friends   
were telling us all about you." Confused, Faye shook hands with the two men as Spike   
and Jet exchanged knowing grins.  
  
"Your friends care a great deal about you, Ms. Valentine." The second man   
said. "That's why they contacted us."  
  
Faye looked the second man with some fear now. "They… called you?" she   
asked uneasily as she turned to look at her partners with betrayed eyes. Suddenly, she   
felt the cold metal of a pair of handcuffs on her wrists. Faye looked at Spike and Jet   
angrily. "Cops? You two sold me out?!?!" she snarled.  
  
"No, not cops." Jet replied with a chuckle.  
  
"Trust us, Faye, this is for your own good." Spike said lightly.  
  
"This is just so you won't hurt yourself, Ms. Valentine." The first man said.   
  
Faye turned to look at the two men. "Who are you?" she asked softly.  
  
The men smiled at her. "We're with the Europa chapter of Gambler's   
Anonymous." The second man said. "Come on, Faye. It's time to deal with your   
problem and get better." The two men began to lead Faye away as she struggled.   
  
"You two did this to me!" she yelled at Jet and Spike as they waved to her. "If it   
takes me the rest of my life, I'll get back at you! You rotten, stupid, despicable   
little…" Faye's voice trailed off as the door closed and Faye was led away.  
  
Spike and Jet high-fived each other. "One down!" Spike laughed.   
  
Suddenly, a creaking sound came from above them. The two bounty hunters   
looked up to the ceiling as a heating duct grate suddenly fell with Ed and landed on   
Spike, knocking him to the ground.   
  
"Ooooh, Sorry, Spikey-spike!" Ed said with a smile as she ran off.   
  
Jet looked at his partner, lying flat on his back rubbing his head where the grate   
had hit him. "and one more to go?" he asked.  
  
"Right." Spike muttered.  
  
THE END 


End file.
